CowParade is the largest, most successful public art event in the world, and yes it does involve cows! Well, not real cows, but cow art. CowParade events have been staged in over 50 different cities since 1999. Some of the popular cities include Chicago, New York City, London, Tokyo, Prague, Buenos Aires, Boston, and Milan.

Over 5,000 different artists ranging from professionals and amateurs, have participated in CowParade.

These designed and painted cows have raised over 20 millon dollars, which has been donated to non-profit organizations around the world.The cows are even auctioned off at the end of the art show; celebs such as Oprah Winfrey, Ringo Starr, and Elton John have purchased CowParade cows.

A few of the organizations who have benefited from these decorated cows include:

• Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston)
• Special Olympics (Bucharest)
• University of Wisconsin Children’s Hospital
• Save the Children (Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Dana Farber Cancer Institute (Boston)
• Jack and Jill’s Children Foundation (Dublin, Ireland)
• Association Against Muscular Dystrophy(Monaco)
• Childhood Cancer Foundation (CHOC) (South Africa)

Cows just aren't the typical animal to use for art shows and charity, but CowParade used the cow instead of a cute furry bunny or a lovable puppy dog because cows represent a lot to people all over the world.

Cows are sacred to many countries. They are historical, and even connect us to our past. Cows are just magical creatures that just make everyone smile.

Typically, the Cow Parade cows are either standing, grazing, or reclining, but the artists have created interesting works of art out of the simple benign animal. These artists have designed over 2,500 cows worldwide and no two are alike. You'll find the theme cows, holiday cows, musical, floral, pop, sports, classic, diva, action, and occupational cows.

Size of the Cows:

• Standing Cow- 95”(L) x 29”(W) x 57”(H)
• Grazing Cow- 84”(L) x 29”(W) x 48”(H)
• Reclining Cow- 88”(L) x 44”(W) x 42”(H)

Weight of the Cows: The cows weigh about 125 pounds before the artists begin to paint the cows, and after completion, they weigh about 400 pounds to include the cement base.

What are the Cows made of? The cows are made of a flame-retardant fiberglass with an internal steel rebar used for reinforcement. They have cement bases.

Mos expensive Cow: The most expensive cow was sold in Dublin in 2003 for $146,000. The Wage Moo cow was designed by John Rocha.

Becoming a Figurine: These giant cows are miniaturized to become 6 to 12 inch standard figurines and the 3 inch miniature figurines, which are among some of the top collectibles worldwide. Each CowParade figurine is an exact replica to an original cow that was a part of the Cow Parade event. To date there are over 500 cow figurines that have been reproduced.

As to what authentic cows becoem figurines, there just isn't a system to choosing who becomes a figurine and who doesn't.

There are over 100 retired cowParade Cow figurines, below includes just some of the retired Cow Parade cows.

• Ballerina Munchkin Cow
• Bovina, The Las Vegas Showcow
• Broadway Baby Cow
• Bull Fight'n Bossie
• Café Au Lait Cow
• Cow Blues
• Cow Doodle
• Cowlumbus
• Crayon Cow
• Disco Cow
• Dr. Moo D. Brown
• Egyptian Princess
• Even Cow Girls Get The Blues
• Fine Wine Bovine
• Fun Seeker Cow
• Grape Bovine
• Here Comes the Sun
• Hey Diddle Diddle
• iMoo Cow
• It's A Cowpuccino Morning
• It's A Smool World
• Jazzy Cow
• La Vaca Enchilada
• Leopard Cow
• Lullaby Cow
• Milktoast
• Mooma Cow
• Moonet Cow
• Mooon Dreams
• Moooonwalk Cow
• Nicole's Dream of Peace
• Party Cow
• Platinum Moodalion
• Princess Preppy
• Pull Toy Cow
• Puzzled Cow
• Sky Cow
• Smooch Cow
• The Divas
• The Few, The Proud, The Moorines
• The Udder 500
• Toro Folklorico
• Traveling Cow
• Vaca Folklorico
• Vaca De La Independancia
• Yellow Rose of Texas Cow

There are more to collect than just the CowParade Figurines. You can find the CowParade line extends to a variety of items such as the following products.

• Books
• Gift cards
• Kitchenware: plates, bowls, oven mitts, coffee mugs, teapots, etc.
• Jewelry/ Trinket boxes
• Paint your own cow kits
• Pins: Lapel and Collectors pins
• Plush Cow Parade Cows

Any collector will love to have these Cow Parade Gifts in addition to their current collection of CowParade Cow figurines. I for one am a big cow collector with various Cow Parade Cows, as well as other cow figurines, keychains, bowls, an icecream scooper, calendars, plush cows, etc. So, as a collector of cow "stuff," you're getting my recommendations.

1999

• Chicago, Illinois, USA

2000

• New York City, New York
• Stamford, Connecticut
• West Orange, New Jersey

2001

• Kansas City, Missouri
• Houston, Texas
• Sydney, Australia

2002

• London, England
• Venspils, Latvia
• Portland, Oregon
• Las Vegas, Nevada

2003

• Atlanta, Georgia
• San Antonio, Texas
• West Hartford, Connecticut
• Tokyo, Japan
• Isle of Man, UK
• Dublin, Ireland
• Brussels, Belgium
• Auckland, New Zealand

2004

• Manchester, UK
• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
• Prague, Czech Republic
• Stockholm, Sweden